Lananna and Price-Smith to coach US teams for Rio

Lananna coached the Ducks from 2005-12.

The University of Oregon’s Vin Lananna will lead the U.S. men’s track and field team at the Olympics in Rio next year.

His coaching career has taken him to the Olympics before as an assistant coach for Team USA at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. During that time they won six NCAA championships and 13 conference titles.

Former Oregon coaches Bill Hayward and Bill Dellinger were assistant coaches at the Olympic level.

When it comes to Tracktown USA, and Eugene, Oregon, former Head Coach and current Associate Athletic Director Vin Lananna has put his own personal and professional stamp on the moniker. Lananna, who previously served as head coach of the US 2011 world championship team and on other US team staffs, is the guiding force behind the 2016 IAAF world indoor championships, scheduled for March in Portland, Oregon, and the 2024 IAAF outdoor world championships in Eugene, Oregon.

This is Lananna’s first head coaching job of an Olympic team.

And the 2014 IAAF World Junior Championships helped pave the way for a winning bid to host the 2021 IAAF World Championships at Hayward.

The women’s assistant coaches will be Bonnie Edmondson from Trinity College for the throws, Robyne Johnson from Boston University for jumps and combined events, Rose Monday, a former University of Texas-San Antonio coach, who will be in charge of distances and LaTanya Sheffield from Long Beach State University who will look after sprints and hurdles.

He also successfully led efforts to bring the world championships here in 2021.

“Being the head Olympic coach of the world’s No. 1 team is not something you say ‘Nah, no thanks, I think I’ll do it next time.’ No matter how busy I may be in 2016, this is not something I see in any way as a detractor from those things”.